Written to a good friend

Dear good friend,

I read the following thoughts by John Eldredge recently and thought of you, as he argues convincingly about something that troubled me in your attitude toward yourself. I don't know what you think of John Eldredge personally, and I myself think he is over the top on some things, but in this particular text I think he is right on the button. Parts in bold are my special emphasis and parts in [ ] are comments of mine.

No Good Thing?

Excerpts from pages 74-79 of Waking the Dead

In an attempt to explain the biblical doctrine of sine, we've let something else creep in. You'll hear it come up almost automatically whenever Christians talk about themselves: "I'm just a sinner, saved by grace." "I'm just clothes for God to put on." "There sure isn't any good thing in me." It's so common this mind-set, this idea that we are no-good wretches, ready to sin at a moment's notice, incapable of goodness, and certainly far from glory.

It's also unbiblical.

The passage people think they are referring to is Romans 7:18, where Paul says, "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing" (KJV). Notice the distinctino he makes. He does not say, "There is nothing good in me. Period." What he says is that "in my flesh dwelleth no good thing." The flesh is the old nature, the old life, crucified with Christ. The flesh is the very thing God removed from out hearts when he circumcised them by his Spirit. In Galations Paul goes on to explain, "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified their sinful nature [the flesh] with its passions and desires" (5:24). He does not say, "I am incapable of good." He says, "In my flesh dwelleth no good thing." In fact, just a few moments later, he discovers that 'the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death" (Rom. 8:2, KJV).

...

And listen to the way he [Paul] talks about us: "You shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life" (Phil. 2:15-16). As Shawn Mullins sings, "We're born to shimmer; we're born to shine." You are supposed to shimmer. "Let your light shine before men" (Matt 5:16). All of this groveling and self-depreciation done by Christians is often just shame masquerading as humility. Shame says, "I'm nothing to look at. I'm incapable of goodness." Humility says, "I bear a glory for sure, but it is a reflected glory. A grace given to me." Your story does not begin with sin. It begins with a glory bestowed upon you by God. It does not start in Genesis 3; it starts in Genesis 1. First things first, as they say.

... It was only after [God] made you that he said, "It is very good" (Gen. 1:31).

[this part will be especially useful to you guys in your relationships with the female sex, although I know only too well that women are not the only ones who obsess uncertainly about their looks]

... A woman wants to know that she is truly a woman, that she is beautiful; she longs to know that she is captivating; and all her life she wonders, "Do I have a beauty to offer?" The poet Yeats wrote,

If I make the lashes dark
And the eyes more bright

And the lips more scarlet

Or ask if all be right

From mirror after mirror

No vanity's displayed:

I'm looking for the face I had

Before the world was made.

("Before the World was Made" from the poem "A Woman Young and Old")

Yes, that's it. When you take a second glance in the mirror, when you pause to look again at a photograph, you are looking for a glory you know you were meant to have, if only because you know you long to have it. You remember faintly that you were once more than what you have become. Your story didn't start with sin, and thank God, it does not end with sin. It ends with glory restored: "Those he justified, he also glorified" (Rom. 8:30). And "in the meantime," you have been transformed, and you are being transformed. You've been given a new heart. Now God is restoring your glory. He is bringing you fully alive. Because the glory of God is you fully alive."

Well... now its me, Rachel, again. Wow, right? I recommend the whole book, but that's the section that especially made me think of you. The phrase, "the glory of god is man fully alive" actually comes from Saint Iranaeus in the second century (REALLY near the beginning :D ). I would just add a couple more Biblical passages, which I am putting almost in their entirety because they are SO good and thanks to the ease provided by Biblegateway.com. Emphasis mine, of course.

2 Corinthians 3

1 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? ...

4 Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God. 5 Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. 6 He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

7 Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, fading though it was, 8 will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? 9 If the ministry that condemns men is glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! 10 For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. 11 And if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!

12 Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold.13 We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. 14 But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. 15 Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. 16 But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 4

Treasures in Jars of Clay

1 Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. ... 6 For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11 For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. 12 So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

2 Corinthians is my current favorite book of the Bible.

Love and blessings,

Rachel